The Clique Meets The Glamorous
by StaceexTeagan
Summary: The story starts out with just Mariah and her famously popular seventh grade crew, but Massie and her clique, the PC, move to Beverly Hills and start attending Mariah's school. The girls become mortal enemies. Which side will take the place as alpha?
1. My Own Sister

Mariah Kindley awoke to the first rays of the California sun in her huge mansion suite. She sat up and rubbed her mascara streaked eyes and peered out her huge balcony onto her outdoor wavepool. Her Swarvoski studded Elegance phone beeped – she had a message from her mom: Morning, Mariah! Breakfast will be at 9:30 in the marble dining room, not the rotating glass room. Take a shower; Maid Barbara has already filled up the water, and she left shrimp cocktail and a light mimosa on the stand. See you soon! Mariah sighed, then rolled off her canopy king bed. Scratching her head and yawning, she made her way across her 1,000 sq. feet bedroom to her private bathroom, which included a sauna, jacuzzi whirlpool, a 50 inch widescreen TiVo and more. Her jacuzzi was already bubbling with it's 10 power jets on, and the TiVo was turned on the channel 17 where a MaxMara fur boot show was on. A mimosa in a delicate crystal glass sat on the silver stand besides the sink.

Mariah didn't hesitate to jump into the jacuzzi and soak it up. She turned up the volume on the TiVo and dunked her head into the bubbly hot water and held her whole body underneath for a full 30 seconds, then lifted her head above the water but kept her body down.

A soft fuzzy facial towel with Mariah K. sewn on it lay next to the mimosa. She grabbed the towel and wiped water off her face, then gulped down half of the mimosa. "Ahh..." she murmured with satisfaction as the jacuzzi jets picked up speed and attacked her body. Then her iPhone beeped as Mariah reached for a shrimp in cocktail sauce. She picked up the phone and saw that she had been invited to an AIM chat with Oscar Renold(the hottest jock of 7th grade who had a M.C. on Mariah), Madden (Oscar's best friend), Nicky (Mariah's best girlfriend currently), and Kathleen (Mariah's sidekick). They were all part of the "in" crowd at school. Mariah was the alpha. They were called the A-Line by others.

Nicky: hey mariah!!!

Oscar!: heres her royal highness!!!

Mariah: hey.

Maddman: oooh richbitch is sleepy!!!

Nicky: whatevs, madman. thats not the right way to call dibs on my bgf.

Mariah??DIBS??

Kathleen: hey mariah!!

Kathleen: thats sick madden!

Oscar!: nicky you slut get down to business

Mariah: shit you people im trying to rest!!

Oscar!: sorry mariah :(

Nicky: SINCE WHEN am I a SLUT. oh rightt hey mariah. wait what business?

Mariah: WHAT

Nicky: nevermind maddens justt being gay and hes going somewhere

Mariah: where ryou going?

Maddman: i think i fell asleep. iM gOiNg To tHe BeAcH.

Nicky: no hes going to singapore to sing a poreee

Mariah: sick.

Mariah: Nix, salon le perfecte at 10:00

Nicky: Great! havent done my nails for ages

Kathleen: What about me?!

Mariah: the hell kathleen drop it.

Mariah turned her iPhone off. Even her best "friends" turned her off so bad. Sighing, she turned off her TiVo and dipped her head into the warm water again. It was already 8:30. She pressed condition on her jacuzzi menu and soapy water started squirting out of the power jets. Mariah sank back and reached for another shrimp cocktail. After gobbling it down, she finally turned off the jets and stepped out of her jacuzzi. A bigger version of her facial towel was neatly folded on the marble and glass counter. She wrapped it around herself, and then tossed it aside and pulled on her MaxMara plush bathrobe. She picked up some Chanel N°5 hair cream and smoothed it into her hair, then stepped out of her bathroom.

The huge suite was chilly due to the strong air conditioner. Mariah pulled her robe tighter then made her way to her Versace special edition soft leather couch. A Louis Vuitton throw sheet lay on the floor. She pulled it up and covered her shivering body with it. Her hair was near dry, so she tossed off the Louis Vuitton and crossed her room to her 200 sq.feet closet. It was filled with MaxMara, Juicy Couture, Chanel, Dior, Marc Jacobs, and Escada. She turned on the bright golden lights that reflected off the mirrors, and then started making selections. She found a tight suede Chanel tube top that went just below her butt, a fishnet tight overshirt from Escada to wear over the Chanel, nude above-knee tights, MaxMara suede below knee silver-and-black 3 inch boots, and a silver Marc Jacobs purse. She stuffed a black Chanel wallet filled with cash and credit cards plus her iPhone into the Marc Jacobs, then grabbed black Tiffany's diamond studs and a black diamond bracelet. With her M.J., she hurried to her dresser and applied thick gray eyeliner followed by black eyeliner, mascara, and MAC foundation and blush. Then she stood in front of her full length mirror and examined herself at every angle. "Hmm..." she murmured. Finally, she left her room for breakfast.

By the time Mariah arrived at the breakfast table, her legs were so sore she couldn't walk. She collapsed onto her marble-and-cashmere chair at the end of the marble table. The rest of her family was already there – her 16 year-old sister Anza, her 33 year old mom Adriana, and her 37 year old dad.

"Good morning, Mariah", Mr. Kindley said as soon as he saw her appearance.

"Hey. Why are we eating here today? I killed my legs on the way over here", Mariah answered. She smiled at her mom as she set down a cup of toffee coffee and Godiva in front of her.

"Well, Kathie the maid broke the glass table in the other room, and the idea of sitting on glass shards did not appeal to me", Mr. K. smiled and patted her daughter on her shoulder. "Sorry about your feet!" Mariah rolled her eyes and stirred some skim milk into her coffee.

"That's that. I've got to go. Bye," Anza rose to her feet and hurried out of the room, grabbing her leather Louis Vuitton wallet with her. Mrs. K. looked at her husband, who shrugged, and then Mariah, who was busy stirring her coffee. "Guess what?" Mariah stood up and gulped down her coffee. "I've got to go too. I'll be at the salon."

"Alright. Have fun and be safe!" Mariah's parents both rose and hugged her. Mariah swung her Marc Jacobs onto her shoulder and left the room.

Nicky was waiting outside the metal gate of the Kindley property in her mom's Aston Martin. "Hey sexy!" She cried as Mariah swung open the car door.

"Hey. Who's that?" Mariah pointed to the man in the driver seat.

"That's our new chauffeur. Henry."

"Mmm-hmm. Ohmygodd. Total crisis this morning. Kathleen's going green with envy."

"Because of me?" A sly smile spread across Nicky's face.

"Hell yeah. She's totally out of the A-Line anyways. That bitch. Can we get this car going or what?" The engine of the Aston Martin started and they pulled away from the Kindley property. Mariah reached forwards and turned on the radio and tuned it to 98.7.

"You know, Madden's all over you now. Ehmigawd, he was so obsessed with you last night. Treats you like a queen behind your back." Nicky leaned back against the pastel leather seats and ran her hand through her hair. "Too bad he can't flirt".

Mariah rolled her eyes and flipped her hair. Then she rested her MaxMara boots on Nicky's Jimmy Choo wedge and gave it a kick. "He doesn't stand a chance."

Soon, the girls arrived at Salon le Perfecte. They climbed out of the car and walked towards the entrance of the salon when suddenly something caught Nicky's eye.

"Mariah. Check that out." Nicky jabbed her elbow into Mariah's Marc Jacobs and pointed at an Ugly Fashion Disaster (UFD). Mariah turned around and lifted her chin ever so slightly. Before her lay something she did NOT want to see.

A short, stout, Asian woman wearing a sweatshirt with baggy jeans and brown sneakers was standing by her car trying to lock it. Beside her stood a girl around their age – with shoulder length black oily hair that covered her head like a mushroom. She was wearing a white T-shirt with little blue and orange flowers on it and a light pink cardigan over it, plus hot pink corduroy pants and purple dirty sneakers.

Nicky leaned in towards Mariah. "Ehmigawd, is that a Buick? Gross much! And that girl, does she have ANY sense of fashion?" She grinned and smoothed her blonde hair.

"Ok, ew, someone's going to set that girl straight. NO ONE is allowed in Beverly Hills without Louis Vuitton." Mariah flipped her hair, added a quick touch of Chanel N°5, and flaunted towards the girl.

"Wait! Mar, slow down!" Nicky raced after her friend and the two girls crossed the parking lot.

"Hey. You new here?" Mariah cocked her head, put on a coy smile, flipped her hair and rested her elbow on Nicky's shoulder.

"No, ahh-ctualy we ahh-re from... ahh Singaahhpore. We're just ahh visiching this city for ahhwhile." The woman stammered, eyeing the two fashion queens up and down and widening her eyes at Mariah's boots and bag. She said something to the younger girl in Cantonese and she gasped.

"Do you live here?" The younger girl had way better English then her gross mom.

"Hell yes. All our lives. Her dad owns that building over there." Nicky pointed to the huge glass building with the words KINDLEY MANOR engraved in them.

"Wow, thahht's verwwy nice!!"

"Uhh.. right.." Mariah and Nicky looked at each other and raised their eyebrows.

"Umm, I like your purse, what brand is it?" The younger girl was staring at Mariah's purse.

"Marc by Marc Jacobs. I don't know if the have it in the village you came from."

"Oh! I know that brand! It was featured in Vogue!"

Nicky stifled a laughed and Mariah rolled her eyes casually. She couldn't stand this. Beverly Hills was for rich people, not gayasses like these two people! Flipping her hair, she turned around and stormed into the salon with Nicky right behind her.

"I think thahht girwl got mahhd becahhuse you wa looking at her bahhg."

"What is wrong with that girl?" Mariah glared at Nicky. "There's something strange about her!"

"Don't worry. She'll be gone soon and she wont have another chance to piss you off," Nicky asured her.

Mariah leaned back and sighed.

"You have mascara on your brow, Nicky."

Once on the Aston Martin, Mariah flipped open her purse and reached for her black Chanel wallet. "Let's hit Plaza 77. I need Couture badly."

Nicky grinned. "Henry, get us over to 77 and make it snappy." Then she turned to Mariah. "So how do you plan to mess up that 'thing'? You were right – she's way too ugly for this place."

Mariah smiled as she thought up schemes and devilish plans. Nicky stared at her, trying to read her mind. "What?! You're driving me insane!" Mariah just cocked her head and raised her brows.

"Alright girls, here you are." Henry turned around and grinned at the girls. They climbed off and opened the glass door to Plaza 77. As soon as they entered, the cool air rushed to them and the sight of rich, beautiful people comforted the girls. After seeing the two UFDs, Mariah had felt slightly sick. But now she was ok. She was one of the rich beautiful ones.

"Let's hit Louis Vuitton. I need the new monogram purse." Mariah nodded and they headed towards the huge boutique. Once inside, they saw something they did not want to see.

"HO.mygodd. It's them again." Mariah raised her eyebrows and put her hands on her hips. Nicky ran her fingers through her loose blonde hair and stared at the UFDs. They were standing at the counter, talking to the salesperson.

"How muhhch is this wahhlet?" asked the mother, holding up a denim Louis Vuitton wallet that was worth $4,000.

"It's original price is 4 thousand, but the sale price is $3,700. Would you like it?"

The younger girl gasped, and her mother exclaimed, "WHAT?! Could I get it cheaper?"

"Excuse me, ma'am, but Louis Vuitton does not bargain. Now, if for whatever reason you cannot purchase this wallet, I will move on to the next customer."

Nicky glanced at Mariah, who rolled her eyes. Nicky snickered behind them. The younger girl turned around and glared at them. Mariah tossed her hair and flipped up her middle finger to piss the girl off. Then the salesperson came over to the two girls. "Would you like anything, girls?" he asked politely. Mariah heard the mom UFD whisper to her daughter, "Let's see if THEY can buy anything."

"Could I see these boots please? Size 6", Mariah smiled at the salesperson and sat down on the couch. He nodded and went off to bring over the boots, while a saleswoman went to wait on Nicky.

"Hey, what's your name?" The young UFD had come over to where Mariah was sitting.

"Mariah. Mariah Kindley. You?" She flipped her hair and raised one brow at Nicky.

"Kay Loch Lee. Why did you embarrass us just now?"

Mariah stared at the fashion disaster standing next to her. "Why do you have three pea sized moles on you face?"

The girl looked confused. "That's not what I was–"

"Same difference."

The two girls stared at each other for a second. Then Mariah turned to the salesperson who had returned with the LV engraved boots. She kicked off her MaxMara's and pulled on the LV's. "How many inches are these?"

"3.75, ma'am. How do they feel?"

Mariah walked around the Louis Vuitton store in the boots. "They're fine. I'll take them."

She smiled a dazzling smile and changed back into her MaxMara's. Nicky tottered over in red pumps.

"How are these?" Nicky raised a foot and examined the heel.

"They're okay. You could wear them to school."

"Ok." She turned to the saleslady that was helping her. "Add them to the list."

Kay and her mother watched open-mouthed from where they were standing, next to the display of scarves. "They're so rich!" She exclaimed to her mother. Mariah nudged Nicky and they rolled their eyes.

"Ehmigawd. We need those evening clutches over there... they're ultra chic!" Nicky slipped back into her Choo's and walked to the other side of the boutique, followed by Mariah and the two salespeople.

"Hmm... I'll take this one, this one, this one, and that one." Mariah said to clerk. "Oh, and this one." The clerk unlocked the cabinet and pulled out the five clutches she had selected. "Wrap them and add them to the reciept." She turned to Nicky. "I'm done here. I'm going to go check out Chanel."

"Me too", Nicky fumbled around for her wallet.

"The total cost for you, ma'am, will be $7,420.00 plus $90.00 tax", the clerk said to Mariah. "And you, ma'am, it'll be $5,560 including tax. Pay cash or card?"

Mariah pulled out a stack of one hundred dollar bills from her Marc Jacobs and handed it to the clerk. He started counting them as Nicky pulled out her dad's credit card and handed it to the other clerk. Kay and her mom watched with their jaws hanging. Satisfaction.

"Want to stop for food?" Nicky rubbed her tummy. "I'm starving."

"Yeah totally. I'm so tired."

The two girls were drooping. They were each carrying their purchases from Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Cartier, MaxMara, and Jimmy Choo. Mariah dropped all her stuff and glanced at her new Cartier black diamond studded watch. 1 o'clock! She gathered all her stuff and followed Nicky into the Restaurant Royale next to Prada.

"Hello girls, what can I get for you today?" A waiter with a big smile was standing by them.

"I'll get a diet Dr. Pepper and a mini halibut steak and a light salad." Mariah handed the menu over to Nicky. "Umm.. Filet mignon, diet Shirley Temple, and raspberry bisque."

"Alright, ladies. You order will be served shortly. Enjoy your meal!"

"Shit I'm tired. I'm going home after this so I can get ready for school." Mariah flipped her hair yet again and checked her eye shadow on the back of her spoon.

"Can I come over? My parent's are at the fighting again... we can get ready together." Nicky patted the back of her blonde hair. "You've got two eyelashes stuck together."

Mariah closed her eyes and untangled the two lashes. "Sure" she replied. "You can come over. We'll get the guys over too." With that, she pulled out her iPhone and texted Oscar.

Mariah: Hey

Oscar: hey princess

Mariah: whatevs. wanna come over later?

Oscar: sure. what time?

Mariah: 3:00

Oscar: wouldnt miss it for the world!

The waiter returned then with the drinks. As Mariah sipped her Dr. Pepper, she thought about what school would be like. She sighed.

"Mar. What's wrong?" Nicky peered at her and cocked her head. Mariah laughed, then suddenly swirled around and almost crashed into the waiter who was carrying the salad and soup. But she barely noticed. She was focused on the two people entering the restaurant. Kay and her mom! Mariah groaned in frustration and sat down hard. She felt cursed.

LATER

"Finally." Mariah groaned as she tried to lug all her shopping bags into the house. Nicky struggled behind her. Two maids rushed out of the mansion and carried all the bags into Mariah's room.

"So what are you wearing tonight?" asked Nicky. "I'm wearing the stuff I bought today."

"I have no idea. I'll see." The two girls climbed the grand staircase to Mariah's suite and plopped down on the long fur sofa.

"Want to wash up? I'm sweating like a bitch!" Nicky fanned her neck.

"You are a bitch. Yeah I'm going to use the jacuzzi. You can use the shower."

Nicky followed Mariah to her bathroom and surfed the channels on her TiVo while Mariah filled the tub with water and got in. Then Nicky stepped into the shower. "How do you work this thing?"

"Press the red glass thing and turn the silver thing." She dipped her head into the water. "Oh shit. The guys'll be here in 30 minutes. I'm getting out." Mariah climbed out and pulled on a long blue silk Vera Wang shirt and her MaxMara robe. "I'll be in the closet."

Mariah pushed past shirt after shirt, skirt after skirt, dress after dress. She had just pulled on a white miniskirt with a dark green velvet top when Nicky walked in, wearing a cotton robe and her new LV pumps.

"How do I look?" Mariah turned around to show Nicky.

"Good as always, but way too plain for tonight."

Mariah nodded, and held up a dark blue glittery Chanel minidress with no back.

"How's this?"

Nicky shook her head. "Not for tonight. I'm going to change too." She pulled out the MaxMara silk tube top and pulled it on. Then she started to fumble around her shopping bags for something on the bottom. Meanwhile, Mariah started going through her entire Vera Wang Summer Collection – all 80 outfits, most of them never touched. Then something caught her eye – the Hot Vera. She pulled on the slightly transparent miniskirt, the royal blue tights and bikini, and the white transparent down-to-butt shirt that she left unbuttoned. She slipped on the white 4.5" pumps to go with them. She looked amazing.

"Ehmigawd Mariah. That's just hott. LOVE that outfit!" Nicky gushed.

"I'm going to go do makeup." Mariah turned on the heel and walked out of the closet. She went to her makeup desk and wiped her whole face with a sanitized damp facial towel. Then she checked for signs for acne or pimples. None. She started with the foundation, applying it on her neck and face and even legs and arms. Next she powdered them off, using shimmer powder on her legs and arms. Then she started on her eyes. They usually took half an hour, but the boys would be here in 10 minutes and she had to look perfect by then. So she applied the eyeliner layers rapidly, and then worked on her eye shadow. Just as she was finishing her eye shadow, Nicky walked out.

"Hey. Do I look okay?" She was wearing a black bellsleeved thin shirt, black cropped short-shorts, purple fisnet stockings, and black 4" boots.

"Sure." Mariah flipped her hair and applied even more blue eyeshadow. She tossed Nicky a huge Chanel compact. "Here".

"Thanks." Nicky sat down at Mariah's worktable and used her iMac as a mirror. "The boys will be here soon." She ran her fingers through her hair. Mariah tossed her a Swarvoski crystal studded ceramic hair straightener.

"Excuse me, Miss Kindley, but your friends have arrived." One of the Kindley maids was at the door. Oscar and Madden appeared in the room.

"Hey Mariah." They two boys came over to Mariah. Oscar picked up the Yves Saint Laurent eyeshadow. "What's this?"

"It's a girl thing. Don't touch." Mariah picked up the swab and drew a blue dot on Oscar's face. "Very sexy."

"AHH... I look so..."

"Perverted", Madden laughed.

"YOU are perverted." Nicky poured shimmer dust on his neck.

Madden snickered. "And this proves it!" He reached over to Nicky and tried to unsnap her bra. It didn't work.

"Haha. She wears Anne Klein bras. They don't even have snaps." Mariah raised her eyebrows at Madden. "You're out of luck." She tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Alright guys, it's, like, 3:30." She flipped her hair. "The Coffee Bean?"

"Yeah!" Nicky clapped her hands. "Love it."

The guys nodded and said sure. Mariah dashed into her closet and grabbed her new white leather Louis Vuitton clutch and the fab four left her room.

The black stretch Hummer was waiting for them when they reached the foyer. They piled in and drove off for a night of fun before school started.

There was one member of the Kindley family still inside the mansion. Stephanie. She wasn't incuded as part of the family. Her parents hid her inside of the house, inside her room. Her room was lockable from the outside and it was in the basement, next to the storage room. Leftovers were delivered to her daily by a maid for her food supply. She exited the house to go to school through the basement door. Mrs. Kindley had instucted her never to be seen with them.

Stephanie had little friends, only 3. They had a little clique called the "AAAA Committee". The group consisted of herself, a girl named Katy who wore head gear, a boy named Miles who had a stutter, and Miles' twin brother Mitts who wore very thick glasses. They sometimes met together after school to study in the public library, although the Kindleys had a library bigger then the public one.

Stephanie was alone a lot of the time, hanging around in her square, dark room. She wasn't given any money, but she had a parttime job at the library on weekends with Miles. They were to put away any books that were left on the couches and sofas in their correct location. They each made 2 dollars an hour, but Miles would leave before Stephanie because he had parents who gave him money. Stephanie, however, worked from morning until afternoon, and made up to 18 dollars in a day.

But now, school was starting. Stephanie hated school. She loved to learn with her 3 friends, but she hated seeing her TWIN SISTER flock around gorgeously with boys chasing after her. She also hated people called her ugly and fat and her nickname, The Ugly Stepsister. She would so much rather work long afternoons at the library.

Stephanie sighed and looked around her room. There weren't many peices of furniture. A small chair that had once been Mariah's footstool was the main peice of furniture. It was a hard chair, but Stephanie had laid sweaters on it to made it soft. Her bed consisted of some cardboard boxes that she had flattened, and she had some old sheets and blankets to cover. A small wood box held all her clothes. And that was it to her room. 50 square feet. Nothing compared to Mariah's room. Or even to her bathroom! As far as Stephanie was concerned, Mariah was someone she could never catch up to.

Mariah yawned as she made her way out of the Hummer and into the Kindley Mansion. It had been a night of fun. School was starting tomorrow... the thought of it made her want to puke. She started up the stairs and made her way to her room. After changing into her MaxMara PJ's, she rubbed off her makeup and went to the evening room, where her parents were sitting and sipping decaf coffee. After bidding each other goodnight, Mariah went to her room and fell asleep.

The next morning, Friday, Mariah awoke at 6:30. School started at 8:30, and she needed to be out the door at 8. She hurried to her bathroom and washed herself, then went into her closet. Her attire for the first day of school had to be perfect. She selected a pair of Sevens' super skinny light jeans. They were torn at the thighs in the back and front, so Mariah wore a pair of fishnet stockings underneath. On the top, she wore a gray lace tank top and a black medium sleeved cardigan. The outfit was topped off with a pair of shiny silver Chanel pumps, a whole set of silver anklets, a black small MaxMara clutch purse, and a silver Prada glow messenger bag. As always, she looked perfect. Then she set off for school.

Beverly Hills Middle school was bustling with kids when Mariah stepped out of the Hummer Stretch with Nicky. The school was bustling with kids, talking about their summer and what fun they had. As soon as they saw Mariah, they all rushed up around her.

"Hey Mariah! Love those shoes!"

"Oh my gosh, Mariah, your new hairdo rocks!"

"I missed you tons! See you at the party tonight!"

Mariah rolled her eyes, flipped her hair, tilted her head, and said, "Yeah, right. Gotta go." She hurried to her locker with Nicky at her heels.

"Wow. Those pathetic losers." Nicky grinned and spinned the dial on her locker. Mariah cocked her head as she yanked her locker open. Was Nicky forgetting who she once was herself? She rolled her eyes and tossed her Prada messenger into her locker. It had already been decorated by Kim, her stylist, and was covered with silky blue material and Swarvoski crystals. Nicky peered over into Mariah's locker. "Kim did a good job this year. Way better then last year." At that time, Celine and Lindsee ran up to Mariah. They were her two Dolce&Gabbana obsessed sidekicks who had been in Hawaii all summer. Together, the four girls walked off to class.

Their new 7th grade Homeroom teacher was Mr. Rickster, who also taught math. When they entered their classroom, Mariah saw something she did NOT want to see.

"What the hell are they doing here?" Nicky gawked and pointed at Kay and her mom. Mariah gasped softly and stood in the doorway, stunned. Celine and Lindsee knew better then to interfere at this time, so they quietly selected a table for 4 at the front of the classroom.

Mariah had just lost her cool and she knew it was time for her to regain it. So she flipped her silky well-flipped hair, put on a cocky smile, and walked right over to Kay.

"So what are you doing here?" She smiled falsely.

"I'm going to be going to school here for one semester. You go to this school too?"

Mariah raised one eyebrow at Nicky, and then smiled again. "Yeah, I do. Is this your little friend?" She motioned to another Asian girl who was sitting next to Kay.

"Kind of. Michelle and I know each other but we aren't friends. She isn't going to this school though. She's leaving in 10 minutes. Are those your friends?" She pointed at Celine and Lindsee and tried to smile the way Mariah did. No success.

"None of your business. By the way, did you steal that smile of yours off a prostitute?" With that, Mariah blew a fake kiss, turned and walked over to her table where Celine, Lindsee, and Nicky were waiting. She sat down with her back towards Kay, crossed her legs, and took out a CDior compact and put it on the table so that she could see Kay from her mirror.

Stephanie fumbled to unlock her locker. It was 8:20, and her locker wasn't opening. Mitts stood beside her, tying his brown shoelaces. Stephanie's attire was nowhere close to Mariah's. She was wearing a light blue school T-shirt, a pair of old faded blue capri jeans, black crocs, and a blue baseball cap. Her black straw tote hung from her shoulder. Stephanie finally got her locker open and stacked her textbooks, notebooks, and pencils into her locker neatly. She grabbed her black tote with her math stuff with one hand, and Mitts with the other, and dragged him into her Homeroom.

As soon as Stephanie stepped into the room, she wished she hadn't. Mariah was sitting with her fab friends in the center of the room. How could this happen to her? She quietly pulled Mitts to a table by the side, where an Asian girl was sitting. "Hi!" Stephanie smiled at the girl. She hoped to make new friends all the time.

"Hi. What's your name? I'm Kay," Kay offered a thin smile and pulled out a pencil and a sheet of paper.

"I'm Stephanie, and this is my friend Mitts." Stephanie smiled again.

"Okay. What's your locker number?" Kay wrote down "Stephanie" on her sheet of paper.

"24-00. Right next to the bathroom." Stephanie brushed her brown hair out of her eyes and adjusted her cap. Kay wrote down '24-00, next to restroom' on her paper and smiled. At that time, Mr. Rickster came into the classroom and class began.

Mariah sighed with boredom and slipped her iPhone into her MaxMara purse. Lindsee poked her with her pen and whispered, "Our new teacher is so ugly." She tugged at her long moonlight straight hair and readjusted her D&G headband. "He needs a serious nosejob."

"Welcome, everyone! I hope you had a great summer. Today will be your very first day of seventh grade, and I'm very glad to be your Homeroom teacher this year!" Mr. Rickster smiled so widely that it hurt to look at him. Mariah rolled her eyes and nudged Nicky. "As you all know, I'm going to also be your math teacher this year. Now, could you all take out a pen or pencil and grab a sheet of paper so we could record our schedules?"

Mariah reached into her MaxMara purse and pulled out a cream colored Tiffany's diamond studded pen. She opened her Prada agenda and wrote:

Seventh Grade Schedule

8:30 Homeroom

9:00 US History

10:00 Study Hall

10:40 Break

11:00 Bioglogy

12:00 Lunch

1:00 Math

2:00 English

3:00 Homeroom

3:30 TahTah

Nicky peered at Mariah's schedule. So did Celine. Turned out that they all had their lunch and break and US History together, but only Nicky and Mariah had all their classes together.

"I wish we were with Oscar and Madden again," Mariah said wistfully. Her heart picked up speed when she thought about Oscar. Maybe she liked him. She knew he liked her...

"Yeah, I know. This class is full of lameasses." Celine waved her hand around at the people sitting around them and tossed her red curls. "And our teacher looks like a peice of crap."

Mariah smiled.

"All right, children, it's time for your first period. See you soon!" Mariah and her girls filed out of the room and walked across the hall into US History class. Their teacher, Mrs. Nermon, was sitting at her table drinking out of a venti Starbucks cup. Lindsee dashed to the center table and threw her black Dolce & Gabbana tote onto the table. "Claimed!" She cried.

Mariah took a seat and sighed with boredom. She wished Oscar was here so badly... but she knew she had to keep her cool and play hard to get. She sighed again.

"I hate US History." Celine fumbled through her silver Dolce & Gabbana purse and pulled out a mini notebook and a Coach fountain pen. Mariah laid her agenda and Tiffany's pen in front of her.

"Hello. I'm Mrs. Nermon. I'm your US History teacher. Welcome to US History. I hope you have a nice year. Now. I'll take roll." Mrs. Nermon spoke with a serious look on her face and didn't seem to have the ability to smile. Mariah rolled her eyes and Mrs. Nermon gave her a stern look.

"All right. I'm going to call your name and I want you to raise your hand when I do. Ready? I'm going to start. Jake. Ok.. Cynthia. Ok.. Celine. Good.. Kay. Alright... Brian. Ok... Mariah.. Good. Nicky.. Ok... Shawn.. Ok.. Lindsee..." Mrs. Nermon went on and named all 20 students. Then she gave the children a curt nod and told them to take out a #2 pencil.

"What the hell, I don't have a pencil," hissed Mariah as she fumbled through her purse. "I only have a pen."

"Here you go," a boy behind Mariah with spiky hair handed a yellow pencil to her. "I like your clothes, by the way."

"...Thanks.." Mariah turned around and examined the pencil. It was ugly and said 'Shawn Jones'.

"Students, I'll give you a pre-test in a moment, but first I'm going to project your seating chart onto the board." She pressed the overhead projecter and a blue seating chart appeared on the board.

"Seating chart?" Mariah and Nicky gasped and looked at each other in horror. Numbly, Mariah picked up her stuff and moved to the front row, where her designated seat was. On her right side was the boy who had lent her the pencil. On her left side was a girl with a ponytail. Mariah wanted to puke. Nicky was one row behind her, and Lindsee was at the far corner. Celine was sitting next to Kay and the aisle. Huh.

Mariah slumped her head into her arm and sighed.

"Hey, we're sitting together!" Stephanie exclaimed as Kay sat down next to her.

"Yeah, we are." Kay grinned and high-fived Stephanie.

"You see that girl over there?" Stephanie pointed at Mariah. "She's my sister. But we never talk."

"Oh. I talked to her during homeroom. She's really popular, huh?" Kay examined her nail.

"Yeah, she is. What did you talk to her about?"

"She asked me if I was going to this school. She has really cool clothes. How come you don't dress like her?"

Stephanie paused. She didn't know how to answer Kay. She didn't want to tell her what went on at home. "Oh, I just don't like dressing up too much. I guess I like the casual style more..." She looked at the floor, then at Kay. Kay was wearing a pink shirt, a small navy blue jacket, pink courdoroy pants, and purple shoes with a flower on the side. She wasn't exactly model-worthy either.

"Yeah, me too. But I have a lot of expensive stuff at home, like Jimmy Choo's and Ferregamo and Chanel," Kay lied. "I just don't like wearing it."

"Alright. Here's your pre-test. The pre-test will not effect your grade, but it will affect your post test." Mrs. Nermon handed out the sheets of paper and grimaced. "You have 40 minutes."

Mariah looked over the test and rolled her eyes. Then she flipped her hair and began. She was smart, but she didn't feel like doing work then. So she wrote down random answers and kicked back and relaxed.

"You're already done?" The boy next to Mariah, Shawn, whispered in bewilderment.

"Yeah." Mariah flipped her hair and adjusted her lace tank top. It showed a lot of cleavage.

"Hey, I really like your shirt." The girl with the ponytail gushed at Mariah. "My name's Joyce, by the way."

"Yeah, ehh, thanks, Joyce." Mariah smiled with false sweetness and then pulled out her vibrating iPhone. She had a message from Lindsee. ohgawd why do we have seating charts? bored over here. meet you after class. Mariah gave Lindsee a quick reply and slipped her phone back into her purse.

"Okay, everyone. Your time is up." Mrs. Nermon frowned and collected all the tests. "You may chat quietly until the end of class."

Mariah breathed a sigh of relief as Nicky, Lindsee, and Celine sat down around her.

"God, that girl next to me smells." Celine tugged at her red curls and tossed them over her shoulder.

"And since when do we have seating charts?" said Nicky with an eye roll.

"Ehh since never. It's plain shit. Anyways. What's up tonight?" asked Mariah, as she casually eyed Stephanie and Kay.

"The Wilshire, remember? My couple party. I'm going stag." Lindsee smiled with satisfaction.

"Nice. Madden asked me to go. I wanted to check with you before I said yes to him." Nicky glanced hopefully at Mariah, who nodded at her.

"Yeah sure. Oscar asked me and I agreed too." Mariah eyed Kay again. She knew something was up. Then, the bell rang and the four girls bounded out of class.

Lindsee and Celine waved bye to Mariah and Nicky after the came out of the classroom. Mariah headed to her locker and spun the dial. She tossed her stuff in and pulled out her Prada messenger. Then she headed to Study Hall with Nicky.

The hall had books and encyclopedias on one side, computers on the other, and tables in the middle. Mariah selected a table near the middle, and something caught her eye.

"Mariah!" Oscar ran towards Mariah and gave her a big hug.

"Hey!" Mariah's heart picked up speed as Oscar sat down next to her. She gave him a sweet smile and tossed her bag onto the wood table.

"Is Madden here?" asked Nicky as she sat down next to Mariah.

"Yeah he'll be here in a mo. He went to get his cellphone."

"Perfect." Mariah tossed her hair over her shoulder and pulled her tank top lower. More cleavage.

"Follow me." Oscar suddenly stood up and pulled Mariah up too. She took off her cardigan and left it with Nicky. Oscar pulled Mariah behind the huge bookcases. It was a bit dark, and there wasn't much room.

"What's this?" Mariah knew exactly what he would do but she acted dumb.

Oscar ignored her question. "You'll go to the couple party with me, right?" He asked. Mariah could feel her heart beat faster and faster as Oscar pushed her up against the wall.

"Yeah. I will." Mariah smiled in satisfaction as Oscar leaned in on her. He kissed her. Gently, at first, but he soon picked up speed. His broad chest pressed against her soft one. Mariah felt his hands go around her and up her back. He squeezed her for 10 seconds, then let her go. Mariah's heart throbbed like a drum, but she felt good. This was what she wanted. And Oscar had given it to her. Satisfied, she closed her eyes as she felt Oscar kiss her again. This time, he had his hands on her shoulders and pressed her against the wall and moved his legs around hers. His minty breath mixed in with Mariah's sweet aroma and he held everything there for another 10 seconds. Then he let her go and they stepped back out.

"What were you guys doing?" Asked Nicky when they were back at the table. Oscar smiled at Mariah.

"Oh, we were checking out the new magazines over there." Mariah grinned and tossed her hair. Then, Madden walked in and sat down with Nicky. While Oscar was busy in conversation, Mariah checked him out. He was wearing Levi's hot jeans and a dark gray Abercrombie T-shirt and DC skateboard shoes. Irresistible. She sighed with contempt. She had dreamed that moment for countless nights, but she had always been afraid to admit that she liked Oscar. She wanted to do it again. But she knew she had to play hard to get.

The rest of the day dragged on. She didn't have any other classes with Oscar, but she would see him at the party.

Stephanie yanked on her locker handle again, but it wouldn't budge. She groaned with despair and yanked one more time. The door finally creaked open. She dumped her tote contents into her locker and pulled out her notebooks for her next class. Then she closed her locker and headed to her next class with Kay.

They walked down the hall and Kay nudged Stephanie. "Look at that guy! He's so.. cute!"

Stephanie peered at the boy Kay was pointing at. He was Oscar, a guy that like Mariah. He was the male alpha of the school. All the girls liked him, including Stephanie herself.

"Oh, him. He has a very big liking towards my sister." Stephanie sighed adjusted her hat. She studied him under the brim of her hat. Was that her sister's lip gloss on his lips? No way...

After school, Mariah and Nicky hurried to the Hummer Stretch and they were dropped off at Mariah's house. They had to get ready for Lindsee's party.

Mariah pulled on her black shimmering Chanel Couture minidress. It was very low cut in the front and extremely short. And around the waist of the dress was black transparent, so Mariah's diamond bellybutton ring clipon could be seen easily. But she thought the dress was too short, so she found a black suede mini miniskirt and pulled that on. Then she pulled on very thing gray fishnets, very different from what she wore to school. A Juicy Couture clutch completed the look, along with a diamond bracelet, earrings, necklace, and anklet. She slipped shiny black 5" Choo's onto her feet and a crystal-on-suede headband into her hair.

Nicky was ready before Mariah. She was wearing black fishnets, black boots, a white miniskirt, and a black shirt unbuttoned to reveal what was inside.

"Ok you ready?" Nicky asked as she slipped her V8 into her evening purse and zipped it up. "I am."

"Same." Mariah and Nicky headed into the Hummer and they drove to the Beverly Wilshire, which was 5 minutes away. They stepped into the Wilshire. A concierge bowed to them and said, "Hello ladies. What can I help you with?"

"Lindsee Dalifent." Mariah said.

"3rd floor, West Wing."

The girls went up the elevator to the 3rd floor. They stepped inside the ballroom and Lindsee, Celine, Natasha, and Kloe rushed up to them. The room was dimmly lit, with a DJ stand in a corner where the DJ was blasting music, and a bar at the other end where drinks would be offered. Sofas lined the room and the floor was covered with red plush carpeting. There was a bathroom near the DJ, and the huge window looked out onto the swimming pool.

"Hey!" Lindsee tossed her long hair, which was fixed into a loose, bouncy knot. She was wearing a white strapless minidress.

"Hey. Who else is already here?" Mariah opened her compact and examined her eyes, which were heavy with dark purple eyeshadow, mascara, and eyeliner.

"Madden and Oscar and Austin and Dylan are."

Mariah nodded and watched Oscar and Austin gulp down cans of Red Bull. She hoped he would have energy all night. And the fun was only beginning.

"Hey, Mariah, I love that skirt." Natasha and Kloe, the two French twins gushed. Celine nodded in agreement and put her arm around Mariah. "Her clothes are tres sexy." She grinned.

"Mariah!" Oscar screamed across the room, and dashed over to Mariah. He gave her a cute smile and a hug. Mariah felt so gifted and loved.

"Hey." She smiled her coy smile and took off the black short blazer she had been wearing over her dress. She could feel Oscar's eyes burn into her front as she handed her blazer to Kloe, who folded it up and put it in the closet. Oscar grinned and opened his mouth to say something to Mariah, but the ballroom door opened and the three basketball champs, Michael, Lee, and Danny walked into the room. Lindsee grinned and motioned to the DJ, who responded with a cocky thumbs up and started blasting Britney Spear's song Peice Of Me.

Lindsee started moving to the music and so did Nicky and Mariah. Soon Celine, Natasha, and Kloe were as well. The guys were lying around on the sofas, gulping down Red Bulls and watching the girls. Mariah tossed her hair back and leaned against the wall. She was already worn out. Soon, Oscar was by her side and was pulling her towards the bathroom. Her pulse picked up speed. Oscar locked the bathroom door and pushed Mariah against the wall. They music blasted through the door still. Mariah blinked and looked at him in the eye. His loose Gucci tie hung from his gray and black wide striped shirt. Mariah reached out and hung onto his neck as he kissed her. She kissed him back and felt his hands on her back... up her spine... and onto her neck.

Mariah's heart thumped harder and harder. But for some reason, when he kissed her again, her heart slowed down. She felt so good when his eyes locked onto her front again. Oscar seemed awed by her. He then wrapped her arms around her and kissed her again.

Mariah felt satisfied and. She WAS satisfied. She slid her arms under Oscar's arms and to his back. Oscar took this oppurtunity to grasp Mariah right under her arms. His palms were right where he wanted them to be.

She let out a soft sigh of contempt and ripped his tie off. He grinned. "I can do better then that." He tore off his entire shirt. Mariah was stunned at how hot he looked without a shirt. 'I'm totally getting into the tub with him soon.' she thought with a coy smile. "Nice." She said and kissed him again.

She couldn't believe that she was kissing a shirtless boy in a bathroom wearing only a pair of Choo's and a miniskirt. This oppurtunity wouldn't come often, so she decided to savor it. Then Austin started banging on the door of the bathroom.

"I got to piss! Lemme in, I have to go!"

"Shit we're coming!" Mariah groaned and pulled out her Chanel compact. Oscar buttoned his shirt back on and Mariah knotted his tie for him. The they opened the bathroom.

"Finally! You guys, I had to piss!" Austin grinned and dashed into the bathroom.

"Hey Mariah!" Nicky ran to Mariah. "What were you doing? I just made out with Madden, you know." Nicky grinned and checked her lip gloss.

"I was doing more then what you were." Mariah brushed on another layer of lipglass and tossed her hair.

"Do you really hate Mariah?" Kay asked Stephanie. They were sitting on the park bench. The moonlight shone past the trees and lit up their faces.

"Yeah, I really do. Thank goodness she doesn't like Oscar. If she did, I would die!" Stephanie shuddered at the thought.

"Well, so do I. I really hate her. I have a crush on Oscar too.." Kay frowned. "If only we could get rid of her, then we could become popular and Oscar would like us."

"Do you really think that would work?" Stephanie asked.

"Maybe, if we tried hard enough. Of course, we would need proper clothing and accessories so that we could attract boys." Kay said thoughfully.

"I know, maybe we could sneak into Mariah's room and go through her closet. Then we could see the brands of the clothes she wears, and we could go buy some ourselves!" Stephanie squealed with delight.

Kay nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, I've got some money. We could go tomorrow, since it's Saturday!"

Mariah stumbled up the steps to the Kindley Mansion. It was close to twelve, midnight. She had had the time of her life, dancing and making out with Oscar. 2 maids rushed out of the house and carried Mariah into the room and set her on her bed. Mariah changed into her clothes and sat at her makeup table, and rubbed off all her makeup. It took 6 towels to do that. Then she rubbed night repair cream all over her face and neck and fell asleep on her King bed.

5 floors below her, Stephanie was getting into bed with her notebook. She had written:

How To Gain Popularity with Kay

•Get rid of Mariah

•Become more fashionable

•Make my friends fashionable too

She looked over her list and sighed. She would make this work, somehow. Rolling off her bed, she opened her small clothes box and took out all the clothes. Some plain white underwear, a red shirt with CALIFORNIA written on it, a white sweater, a black school t-shirt, black loose cargo pants, gray sweats, blue jeans, a blue jacket, and what she was wearing today. That was all. She also had two bags, a black straw tote and a wheat colored fabric knapsack. Mariah almost always wore heels, but Stephanie only had a pair of Crocs and white tennis shoes. She found this situation quite hopeless.

Stephanie got up the next morning at 6:00. She pulled on her red Cali shirt and her black pants and tennis shoes. Today was the big day with Kay! She grabbed her knapsack and threw in an apple for a snack, all the money she had ($132), her Macy's gift card, her blue baseball hat, her notebook, and a pencil. She grabbed a jelly sandwich that she had bought the day before in the school cafeteria and headed out the back door.

As she walked down Rodeo Drive, eating her sandwich, she wondered if this was really her time to rise. She looked at her reflection on the shiny Louis Vuitton boutique door and shook her head. Come what may.

Kay was waiting for her at the end of the street. "Hi!"

"Hi. It's 7:00. Lets go into the mall now." The two girls bounded into the mall. Kay was wearing a white old cardigan and a brown t-shirt with black pants. She carried a small brown bag.

"How much money did you bring? I've got about 130", Stephanie said.

"I have around 40. I left most at home." Kay shrugged and walked into Macy's. "Come on, lets look for stylish clothes!"

Stephanie grabbed a black blazer with silver buttons. "Wow, this is nice! But it's 40 dollars!"

Kay nodded. "I can't afford that." She shrugged again and picked up a small random-branded wallet. "This is only 6! I'm buying this!" She exclaimed. Stephanie waked over and picked up one of the pink glitter wallets, but put it back down.

"Look at this! 60 sale off everything in this rack! All below 10 dollars!" Stephanie shrieked with delight and pulled a green tank top off the rack. "I like this one!" She pulled a blue hoodie off and cried, "And this one!"

Soon the girls were loaded with clothes and they went to pay. Stephanie used her gift card and spend $60, and Kay spent $18. They were very satisfied with their purchases.

"Such a great bargain!" Stephanie gushed as they stepped out of Macy's.

"Want to try JCPenney?"

"Okay. I don't have much left, though." Kay fumbled through her wrinkled bills. Stephanie thought of Mariah. 'She always had a stack of $100's with her.' Stephanie sighed and plopped down on a metal bench.

"I think we should try kidnapping her." Stephanie pulled out her apple and munched on it.

"What? How?" asked Kay. She looked confused.

"We could kidnap her and send her over to Walnut. It's a small abandoned city on the outskirts of LA. About a 3 hour drive. We could send her there, leave her there, and come back and gain our fame." Stephanie said inbetween bites.

"How would we do that?" Kay wondered. "How could we send her over? We can't drive yet, and I don't think anyone would want to send us."

"You're probably right." Stephanie sighed and tied her hair up in a ponytail.

Kay sighed. Then she perked up. "Is Walnut a coastal city? You know, near the coast?"

"Yeah. It's on a cliff, the whole city is. Why? What difference does it make?"

"We could sneak abroad a boat to Walnut. If they have one." Kay tapped her finger on her chin. "Let's go to the library and find out."

Stephanie nodded and the two girls made their way out of the mall. "Wait, Kay, let's go change our clothes first." Stephanie pointed at the women's restroom. Kay nodded.

"I'm going to wear the green tank top and the black skirt." Stephanie gushed as she stepped inside a stall. Kay stepped in too.

"I'm wearing my white dress and new shoes." Kay smiled at the thought of looking just as good as Mariah. However, when the girls finished changing and stepped outside and looked at their reflection, one thing was made clear. Their was no way Macy's clothes could look as good as Mariah's Chanel, Marc Jacobs, and Escada designer clothing. Stephanie's clothes hugged her body and made her look like a pig. Kay's clothes hung on her bony small figure and she looked like a dork. They sighed and stepped outside of the mall.

The bright sunlight shone on them as they walked down the street to the public library.

The library smelled of books and detergent as the two girls pushed open the door. "Let's try the computers. Maybe we can find some information about boats and their routes."

"Yeah. Okay, it's a good idea." Kay tossed her hair over her shoulder in attemp of copying Mariah. It didn't work out. She ended up slapping the librarian in the face.

"Sorry!" Kay squeaked, blushing. Stephanie dragged her to the line of computers. She turned one of them on and sat down on the wheely chair.

"Sit!" Stephanie yanked on Kay's arm and Kay plopped down next to her.

"Do a Google search." said Kay.

Stephanie opened up Internet Explorer. "Okay, what do I search?"

"Umm.. boats going to Walnut, CA." Kay reached over and typed it in.

Stephanie pulled out her notebook from her knapsack. She opened it up to yesterday's page.

How To Gain Popularity with Kay

•Get rid of Mariah

•Become more fashionable

•Make my friends fashionable too

— bought clothes at Macy's

– going to find boat that goes to Walnut, hide Mariah in Walnut.

-Should finish before Monday?!

-Should probably hide her in the baseball field.

"Alright, well, there's a boat going tonight at 7:00 to Walnut and then Brea. They're just going to stock up on Walnut's local wildflowers, for some weird reason. It's a big boat, and it's going to dock at Walnut for 4 hours. The only people on the boat are going to be the boat driver, and 3 flowerhunters. This might work!" Kay printed out the website and grinned.

Stephanie tapped her pencil on her dull chin. "Hmm.. how will we kidnap her though? Maybe we could just wait outside of her room, well when my parents aren't at home, and blindfold her and carry her away?"

"That might work. I actually packed a lot of kidnapping things this morning..." Kay pulled out her brown bag and took out 2 blindfolds, some rope, 6 pills, and a can of spray. "The spray is all water, and the pills are sleeping pills."

Stratching her head, Stephanie said, "Sleeping pills? What for?"

"We don't want her to be moving around too much when we carry her to the boat, so if she's asleep then it'll be a lot easier." Kay grinned.

"Yeah, I guess, that's a good idea." Stephanie shut down the computer and picked up her stuff. "Come on, lets go to my house and wait for Mariah to come out."

Mariah picked up her eyeliner and took off the cap. She looked at her reflection in her crystal lined mirror and dropped her eyeliner. She smiled. Last night... She picked up her iPhone. The song "Peice Of Me" was playing out of it. She had set it to be the ringtone only when Oscar left a message or called. Her perfectly manicured bronze nail tapped "Messages" and she read Oscar's message.

hey. hahh i love you. miss royal highness

Mariah smiled to herself. She replied:

??iloveyoutoo

She slipped into her closet and pulled on a dark purple Escada tube top, a pair of gray Armani Exchange super-skinny jeans, a lavender Chanel Couture blazer, and purple 4" Choos. Then she found a purple Escada purse and went back to her makeup table. After brushing on some eyeshadow, eyeliner, and lipcolore, she called Nicky and asked her to come over.

Her iPhone was playing "Peice Of Me" again. She glanced over. Message from Oscar. heya you left your thong on my bed. Mariah rolled her eyes. Oscar needed to grow up. She didn't bother replying. At that time, Nicky appeared in her doorway.

"Hey." Mariah tossed her hair over her shoulder and fastened it into a loose wavy knot.

"Hey! What's up?" Nicky looked fab as usual, wearing black skinny jeans, LV peeptoe pumps, a black halter, and a white blazer.

"Ehh. Let's go hang out with Oscar and Madden." Mariah opened her compact and dabbed more lipcolore on her upper lip.

"Yeah sure. C'mon." The two girls got up and headed towards the door.

"Kay, get your blindfolds ready. I just saw Nicky walk inside. We can get them both!" Stephanie's heart pounded with fear as she crouched behind the marble statue in front of Mariah's room. She signaled OK to Kay, who hid across from her. The silver and wood double doors opened, and Mariah and Nicky stepped out, chatting. Kay lunged forward and pushed Mariah to the ground. Stephanie ran into Nicky, who tripped over her 4" pumps and crashed into the heavy door. Nicky's blonde hair swept across her face and she didn't move. She had been knocked out. Mariah screamed but Kay stuffed tissues and a hard thing into her mouth and blindfolded her. Stephanie handed Kay the rope, and she tied her hands together behind her back. Ohmygodd. What's happening? Oscar.. Help me! screamed Mariah's brain. But Mariah was smart. She learned to fake dead in a movie she watched with Oscar before. So she slumped down and acted all limp.

"Come on, lets move them over the bike." Mariah heard Kay say to Stephanie. STEPHANIE? BIKE? Mariah stifled a gasp. Her own sister. She could feel Stephanie drag her down the stairs. Where was Nicky? The fresh smell of the rosebed outside of the Kindley mansion reached Mariah's nose. She was outside. Kay grunted as she loaded her into some sort of car. Nicky crashed besides here after a moment. She heard a click and a minutes later, the car started to move.

The space she was in was really quite small, just big enough for Nicky and her to curl up in. She gave Nicky a kick. No response. She kicked her harder. Still, Nicky remained still. Mariah sighed and moved her knee up to her face. Gently, she managed to move her blindfold off her eyes. It was dark. She heard cars honking around her and people talking.

There was a tiny slit in the box she was in, and she peered outside. She realized she was on the back of a 4 wheeled bike, and Kay and Stephanie were pedaling. They were on Rodeo Drive. Then she looked at Nicky. She wasn't blindfolded, but her eyes were closed and she was breathing softly. Mariah fumbled around to reach her Escada purse, but her tied hands made it hard. She sighed in despair. What was going on? Suddenly, she felt drowsy. She fell onto Nicky and fell asleep.

"Do you think that what we're doing is.. well.. right?" Stephanie asked Kay as they pedaled side by side.

"Yes. Mariah went way too far. She treats us like dirt. She deserves it!" Kay insisted. Stephanie sighed and they made a turn and arrived at the pier.

"Okay. This is going to be tricky. The boat's name is Wildflower Pan. We'll have to sneak aboard without letting anyone see." Stephanie said. "Here it is. Let's get Mariah and Nicky aboard first."

Kay parked the bike as Stephanie pulled Nicky out of the cart. She hoisted her aboard the boat and checked for people. The boat was vacant. So was the entire dock. Kay appeared with Mariah on her back. They walked around and found a big table covered with white cloth in the corner.

"Lets put the under here. We'll have to give them more sleeping pills. It's only 1:00PM right now. We still have to go home and pack our stuff." Stephanie noted. She pulled out Kay's bag and plopped 2 pills in both girls' mouths.

"Okay. Let's go." Kay and Stephanie shoved Mariah and Nicky under the table and then ran off the boat. They hopped back onto the bike and rode home.

Stephanie walked quietly into her room and grabbed her black tote. She tossed in some food, a flashlight, and an extra set of clothes. Then she fell onto her bed, she wanted to take a nap before her big adventure.

At promptly 6:00 Stephanie awoke. She raced outside and onto her bike. Kay was waiting for her at the dock.

"Hey. I'm scared." Kay shuddered and gripped her bag tightly.

"Me too. Alright, its 6:30. Let's get onto the boat." Stephanie and Kay rushed onto the rocking boat and hid under the table, next to Mariah and Nicky. They were stil asleep.

"I slept for a little while at home." Stephanie told Kay.

"I didn't sleep all last night. Will you mind if I take a little nap now?" Kay asked.

"Go ahead. I'll wake you up when we dock at Walnut." Stephanie nodded and criss-crossed her legs. Kay closed her eyes and leaned against the wall.

2 Hours Later

Stephanie nudged the still-sleeping Kay. The boat had been on water for quite a while already. She had heard the men on board say that they would arrive in 20 minutes. She glanced at her sister and Nicky. As much as she hated to admit it, they were both really pretty. Nicky looked adorable and very hott with her big eyes outlined with eyeliner, and her wavy blonde hair completed her face. Mariah was even better, with her sharp eyes, clear skin, and fine hair. Stephanie knew, under everything, that she envied Mariah and wished to be her best friend. She looked beautiful even now, with her hair strewn across her face and her eyes closed. It was no wonder why Oscar liked her so much. Stephanie sighed and nudged Kay again. She stirred and opened her eyes.

"Shh. We're almost there," whispered Stephanie in a low voice. Kay nodded and rubbed her bare eyes. Both girls felt cramped under the table. Then they heard a crash.

"Alright, men, let's get this over with," a man's gruff voice said. Stephanie and Kay waited until they all left the boat, then waited 5 more minutes, then left the boat too.

"You know your way around this place?" Kay asked doubtly.

"Sort of. There's a baseball field over there. Lets just leave them there and get back on the boat." Stephanie pointed at a small court surrounded by metal gates. In silence, they carried the two girls into the baseball field and locked the metal gates. The key was sitting on the lock, and Stephanie slipped it into her pocket. Then they crept back onto the boat. It was 7:30.

"Mariah. Mariah!"

Mariah opened her eyes ever so slightly. It felt like there were 300 pounds of fat sitting on them. She sat up immediately. Nicky was sitting next to her. They sitting on dead, brown grass. It was about half an acre of land. A baseball field, she thought. The sky was dark and the moon was out.

"Nicky.. Where the hell are we?" Mariah sat up and brushed her hair.

Nicky shook her head, her silver earring hoops dangling. "I don't know. The last thing I remember is..." her voice trailed off. "Being in your room, getting ready to go to Oscar's house."

Mariah stood up and went to the gate of the field. It was locked. She didn't know what to do. For the first time in her life, she felt hopeless. She didn't know where she was and she couldn't escape.

"Mariah... we can't get out of here. I tried calling with my cellphone but there's no signal here. I really don't know what to do." Nicky sighed and pulled out her white leather purse and zipped it closed.

"Do you think we could climb?" asked Mariah, staring up at the tall gate.

"Nope. We would fall down." Nicky stared at her hands.

Mariah chewed on her bottom lip nervously and looked around. She could see the ocean. But other then that, there were only some old, abandoned houses and an empty motel. Nothing else.

Nicky let out a long, loud sigh and pulled out a Chanel compact and fixed up her eyeshadow. Mariah pulled out her Escada purse and unbuckled the silver buckle. She pulled out her iPhone and switched it on. She had a message from Oscar, but no signal. She opened the message.

hey, princess. i miss you even though youre just 5 minutes away. cant wait to see you. love you.

Mariah blinked her tears away and kicked the ground. If she never got out of this place, she would never see Oscar again. The thought made her crumpled and slump to the ground.

Back in Beverly Hills, Stephanie was lying in a cold sweat in her bed. She couldn't believe she had just kidnapped her OWN SISTER and left her to die. Burying her face in her pillow, she closed her eyes and tried to make it all go away. She just wanted for it to all be okay. It was a mistake, taking Mariah and Nicky to Walnut and locking them up. Her hand went to her pocket, and she took out the key to the gate. Stephanie wanted to scream. All she wanted was to be treated the same way as Mariah, to be able to recieve love from her parents and respect from the children at school.

Oscar. Beverly Hills. Oscar. Beverly Hills. The words echoed through Mariah's head as she sat with her head inbetween her knees. The sky was still dark but the sun was starting to rise. She closed her eyes and watched a tear drop fall from her eye and land on the dirt. She quickly dried her eyes and checked her makeup.

"You know what? I think we should climb the gate after all." Nicky studied the tall metal gate. "The worst thing that can happen is we'll fall. But if we stay in here, we'll be dead in days."

"Okay. We'll try it when the sun comes up." Mariah stood up and untied her hair and pulled a comb out of her purse. She combed her hair and tied it back up. Then she applied a fresh coat of eyeliner, eyeshadow, and lipcolore. Then they headed to the gate.

When the sun was bright enough, the girls started their climb.

"You first." Mariah brushed her hair out of her eyes. Nicky shrugged and stuck one LV heeled shoe into the lowest metal crisscross. Then she reached up and grabbed a higher crisscross. In this pattern, she managed to go halfway up without messing up.

"Is it okay up there?" asked Mariah, kicking the dirt nervously.

"It's alright. You can start now." Nicky replied. She was already at the top, and was trying to flip over the gate.

"Okay." Mariah started up the gate in the same pattern as Nicky. She panicked when her she lost footing but managed to hang on and keep her feet in the right place.

"You alright?" Nicky asked. She was almost to the bottom.

"Yeah, sure." Mariah flipped over the top and started descending. Nicky was already at the bottom. Mariah lowered herself slowly, and jumped off the gate.

"All right we're good." Mariah forced a smile.

"Now what?"

Stephanie sighed and picked up her black tote. It was starting to rip at the bottom. She threw in her notebook and small jar of jelly. Then she headed out of her room for a walk in the park.

Oscar flipped out his Blackberry cellphone and checked for messages. None. He felt confused. Was Mariah pissed at him again? He hoped not. He checked his Rolex Sport. 8:30. He decided to go to Gucci and pick up a women's tie for her. After throwing on a Ralph Lauren t-shirt and a pair of Armani jeans, Oscar grabbed his Gucci wallet and ran out of the mansion.

Oscar decided to cross the park. It was a shortcut to Rodeo Drive, where the Gucci boutique was located. He ran through the park and nearly crashed into a girl with a black tote. Stephanie.

"Oh, s-sorry!" Stephanie blushed and ran off. Her noteboot fell out of the hole at the bottom of her bag. Oscar picked it up and opened it.

How To Gain Popularity with Kay

•Get rid of Mariah

•Become more fashionable

•Make my friends fashionable too

— bought clothes at Macy's

– going to find boat that goes to Walnut, hide Mariah in Walnut.

-Should finish before Monday?!

-Should probably hide her in the baseball field.

Oscar gasped and ran after Stephanie. He caught up with her.

"Hey! Where's Mariah?" Oscar asked breathlessly.

Stephanie looked horrified and exclaimed, "I don't know! I don't know! She's.. not here!" and she ran off again.

Oscar ran all the way back home. He found his dad in the breakfast room.

"Dad, I have to borrow your waverunner. Please." he begged. Oscar's dad nodded.

"Be careful. The keys are next to my Mercedes keys."

Oscar ran and grabbed the keys. Then he hopped into the Mercedes with the chauffeur and they stopped at Madden's house to pick him up. Then they sped to the dock.

At the pier, Oscar and Madden boarded the waverunner and sped across the water. Sweat dripped down their faces. Oscar knew the way to Walnut. He and his dad had gone their many times before. After 2 hours, they arrived at the old city. Oscar parked the waverunner and ran up the cliff. Madden stayed behind to make sure the waverunner didn't float away.

The rocks were hard and jagged and it was starting to drizzle. Oscar pushed his wet dirt blonde hair out of his eyes and looked around. He saw an old baseball field and a motel.

"Mariah! Mariah!" he shouted into the rain. There was no reply. Then, he heard a voice.

"Oscar?" It was Mariah!

"Mariah!" Oscar screamed and ran. Mariah appeared from behind the motel. "Mariah!"

The rain was getting heavy now and the sky was gray. Nicky appeared behing Mariah, and the two girls dashed to Oscar. Mariah reached him first.

"Nicky, Madden's at the waterfront." Oscar pointed over the cliff, and Nicky went running in the direction.

"But how did you know I was here?" Mariah wrapped her wet arms around Oscar's drenched body. "Did Stephanie tell you?"

Oscar shook his head. "I found her notebook. It contained everything." Oscar reached over and touched Mariah's face. Mariah whipped off her blazer and threw it to the ground. She smiled and leaned in to him. Oscar didn't hesitate. He kissed her and hugged her tight, without detaching his mouth from her lips. She smiled that same coy smile and pushed her chest against his. He kissed her again with much more vigor this time. And so they stood, in the pouring rain on top of a ocean cliff, kissing and kissing and kissing. Mariah knew that from here on out, everything would be okay. She would tell her parents about Stephanie, and she would never have to worry about her again. It would all be good.

Mariah pushed away from Oscar and smoothed our her hair. He leaned over and they shared one more kiss, a long 15 second one. Then they climbed off the cliff and boarded the waverunner so they could go home.


	2. I Thought I Could Love You

Mariah Kindley's Swarvoski-studded iPhone started to beep continuously on a Sunday morning. Mariah rolled over from where she was lying on her king-sized bed and grabbed the cellphone. A message from her boyfriend, Oscar, who was also Beverly Hills Middle School's most popular guy. And no duh, he dated the school alpha – Mariah.

hey sexy tonight at the wilshire. 6:30. i love you.

Mariah smiled to herself and blushed. It was Oscar's birthday. They had been officially going out for 3 months, since September. Everyone at school knew. They knew that they were together and they knew not to mess with Mariah because after all, she was the alpha. They also knew not to touch Oscar because, hell yeah, he was her property. Done.

Mariah crossed her room to her walk-in closet. Black satin Escada minidress? Yeah. Cream MaxMara rabbit fur blazer? Hell yes. Skinny true blue boot jeans? Jimmy Choo cream leather 4" boots? All in all okay. She got dressed and hurried with her makeup. Then she grabbed her iPhone and stepped out onto her balcony.

Her balcony consisted of a marble floor, a white leather sofa, a glass table and bar, and a small fridge. Mariah stood by the marble railing and looked down at the 3 acre backyard. Anza, her 16 year old sister, was swimming in the outdoor jacuzzi with her girlfriends. It was only 9:00. Mariah grabbed a Dr. Pepper out of the fridge and sat down on the sofa, thinking about her life and waiting for her iPhone to beep again.

"Mom, I'm scared," said 12 year old Lorri Spring. She sighed nervously as her mom unpacked another carton. The family of three had just moved into a small grimy apartment in the corner of Beverly Hills. They were there for the company her dad worked at. Lorri peered out her grimy window and bit her lip. How could her parents expect her to start school in the middle of the year?

"Aww, don't be that way," Mrs. Spring said. "You're such a lovely girl. I'm sure everyone at school will welcome you." With that, Mrs. Spring tossed the empty carton onto the floor. Lorri looked at the mess of cartons and boxes around her.

"Mom, why don't we use normal suitcases?" Lorri asked. On the way over to the apartment, she had seen people towing brown Louis Vuitton suitcases and sleek leather duffle bags. No one used old brown paper cartons and boxes.

"Because they're a waste of money." Mrs. Spring casually waved the subject away. "Why don't you take a walk around town? I'm sure you'll bump into some other seventh graders that you can make friends with." She gave Lorri a little push, and soon Lorri found herself standing on the front step of the apartment building.

"Well, it's just me and the world." Lorri walked down the bare street leading to downtown Beverly Hills.

10 minutes later, Lorri arrived at Rodeo Drive. As soon as she saw all the people rushing by in Jimmy Choos and the people driving by in Mercedes sport cars, she felt out of place. She was wearing plain old clothes, like the ones she wore in Michigan. White dirty tennis shoes, plain white socks, and a baby blue and white plaid baggy dress that went to her knees. A white cotton jacket wrapped up her shoulders, and a white knit scarf hung from her neck. A crowd of sixth graders stood near her, and although they were younger then her, they were much more sophisticated and stylish. They each carried a designer purse and were all wearing heels. Lorri looked like a pauper compared to these princesses. But then she saw someone who caught her eye – a girl dressed similar to her! She was dressed in a white sweater, blue capri jeans, long white socks, and crocs. Lorri smiled to herself and waved self-conciously at her. The girl waved back. She stepped forward.

"Hi!" Lorri smiled her birhgtest smile. "My name's Lorri. I'm new in town."

The other girl smiled too. "I'm Stephanie. Nice to meet you!"

There was an uncomfortable silence. Stephanie broke it. "Have you had lunch yet?" she asked. Lorri shook her head no. It was only 11:00 AM.

Stephanie smiled. "Want to go eat at the Diary Queen? We can get sandwiches and ice cream."

Lorri smiled at the offer and nodded. "I've only got about 10 dollars pocket money," she said wistfully.

"It's alright. That's enough for a burger and an ice cream cone," Stephanie reassured her.

"Alright then, let's go!" Lorri smiled as followed Stephanie down the street of busy people. She smiled to herself. Maybe Beverly Hills wouldn't be so bad, she thought cheerfully. She had a friend. She had her parents. She had the chance to go to a good school. Joyfully, she clutched her plastic Claire's wallet in one hand and Stephanie's hand in the other. She couldn't believe her luck.

Mariah was brushing on another layer of dark purple eyeshadow when her iPhone beeped again. This time, it was Lindsee.

Hey Mariah! whats up for lunch? text me back. lurvu.

Mariah tossed her well-tossed hair over her shoulder. She couldn't believe her friends wanted her to choose the place for lunch. Fine, fine. The Ritz Carlton, for all she cared. She texted Lindsee back.

the ritz. 4th floor buffet place. 11:30. bring cash this time, honey, cant expect me to pay all the time.

Mariah found her favorite MaxMara fur winter bag, and tossed in a few stacks of 100-dollar-bills. It was enough to last for a few days at the very least. Then she looked around for a wallet. A black Chanel wallet would have to do. After stuffing in a few credit cards and debit cards, she hit the door.

In all her glory.

Done. And done.

At the Ritz Carlton, Lindsee and Celine were already waiting. They looked great, as always, dressed head to toe in Dolce&Gabbana. D&G fur jackets, boots, and headbands. Mariah slid in through the front door just as Lindsee ordered the drinks.

"Hey!" Lindsee and Celine smiled at their friend.

"Hey." Mariah took off her fur blazer and left in on the back of her sofa-chair. Then Celine and Mariah went to get food while Lindsee called her parents. And as the three girls enjoyed their lunch in luxury, three other girls sat in the Diary Queen to intertwine their fates.

Kay, Stephanie, and Lorri.

"So there's ths popular mean girl who has 'custody' of the hottie Oscar?" Lorri furrowed her brow in confusion and licked her ice cream cone.

Kay and Stephanie nodded. Stephanie had introduced Lorri to Kay, who was one of her friends. Kay was mean, and pretty poor, but tried to make herself seem rich and amazing. She had a gigantic crush on Oscar. So did Stephanie.

Lorri nodded slowly. "What can I do to help you guys?" she asked.

Stephanie smiled slowly. "This morning, I crept up to her room while she was taking a bath. Her iPhone was lying on her bed, so I picked it up. I read her messages. There was a message from Oscar, asking her out. Tonight, at the Beverly Wilshire. All you have to do is go there, and throw this at her." Stephanie extended her hand. A gray, smooth, heavy stone lay on her palm.

Lorri looked at her in horror. "Won't that kill her?" she asked in disbelief. "Won't I get into humoungous trouble?" She nervously put down her ice cream spoon.

Kay shook her head. "The rock won't kill her. And we'll be with you, so that nothing bad will happen." She rolled her eyes, an obvious mimick of Mariah. "Why would we want to get you into trouble? We're your friends."

Mariah pushed past dress after dress after dress in her closet. Was there nothing she could find that she could wear? It was her night with Oscar. She tossed a huge selection of dresses, skirts, fur jackets, and winter camis onto the red satin sofa in the closet. Some winter Escada pieces, Chanel fur jackets, MaxMara minidresses, and Couture camis. She started sorting through the huge clump of expensive clothing. Finally, her choice was made.

A dark blue skintight strappy tank top, an Escada gray satin minidress with a low back and a scoop neck and long skimpy sleeves, black suede MaxMara 5" knee high boots and finally, not forgetting that it was winter, a Chanel short cream fur blazer, similar to the one she had worn through the day. She took a glance at herself in the mirror. Not enough flair. She put on a thick diamond bracelet and dangly diamond hoops. There. That was good. Smiling, she tapped her iPhone to life. There was a message from Oscar.

hoping you didnt forget about tonight. i love you.

That called for a major eye-roll.

Lorri bit her lip nervously as she stepped out of Kay's mom's Chevrolet and into the Beverly Wilshire. Stephanie and Kay stepped out behind her. Her hand went to the pocket of her garden dress. The stone. She was a bit nervous and a bit anxious. She hoped nothing bad would happen.

"Okay, so you're going to hide in the air vents of the dining room. It's going to be really tricky. Don't get caught, don't make a lot of noise, just quietly crawl to a vent and look around for Mariah and Oscar. There are air vents all over the ceiling, so just crawl to a place with a direct hit. Throw the rock, and quietly crawl out. Peopl are going to be shouting, but don't take any notice. Just get in and get out. Simple," explained Stephanie as they entered the beautiful hotel lobby. Lorri caught her breath and clutched her newly-bought random-brand pink purse to her stomach. Then she tried to smile.

"Yeah, I understand," she murmured as she bit her lip nervously.

"Okay. Here we go, it's on the 2nd floor." Stephanie stepped into the marble elevator and pulled Lorri in behind her. Kay held the door open and pushed 2. They arrived at the second floor and Stephanie pulled Lorri out. Lorri was astonished by what she saw. Gold and red thick carpets, elegant sofas in the wide hallway, the entire ceiling painted gold, with fancy sculptures everywhere.

"This way." Stephanie jerked on her arm and pulled her down a hall, through a foyer, and down another hall. A door marked "NO ENTRANCE" stood in front of them. Stephanie grinned and pushed the door open. Inside were light controls, electricity controls, and at the top of the room, there was an open vent. Lorri gasped. It was dark and filthy. Kay must have thought so, too, because she handed her a apron.

"Keep yourself clean, hunni, we don't want to scare the hotties." She said. Lorri slipped the apron on an Stephanie boosted her into the square hole.

"Aren't you guys coming too?" She asked.

"Nope. But we'll be right here." Stephanie promised. Then she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small flashlight. "Here. Take this."

Lorri nodded and switched in on. A small beacon of yellow light shot out wearily. Lorri looked back at Stephanie and Kay, and then started her journey through the tunnel.

The tunnel was barely wide enough for her to crawl through. It was covered with dust, but Lorri made sure she didn't sneeze. There was a very long string of rope, one end tied to her flashlight, the other end in Stephanie's hands so that she wouldn't get lost.

Lorri heard some voices from below. She saw light, and realized an air vent opening was on one side of the tunnel. It was a small vent, but big enough to see a concierge and an old lady walk by. They didn't notice her. She held her breath. The tunned was awfully echoey and the walls were very thin. She silently crawled on, not knowing where she was going. It was only 6:00.

Mariah carefully applied another layer of eyeliner. Eyeliner was her signature, and she was careful not to smudge or muck it up. Just as she was spraying some golden shimmer powder over her legs, her iPhone beeped. Sighing, she picked it up and tapped messages. It was Oscar.

bring your swimsuit. were going to hit the hot tub.

Mariah gaped. Was her seriously thinking... she wiped the though out of her mind. Then she hurried downstairs to where the chauffeur was waiting with the Hummer.

At 6:25, Mariah got out of the Hummer. They were at the Wilshire. Immediately, she spotted Oscar, who was looking hot in his black pants, untucked gray shirt, and Gucci belt. He dashed over to Mariah, kissed her, and led her into the hotel.

Mariah felt a little scared, but excited too. Her black Louis Vuitton color monogram bikini was in her purse. She pulled off her MaxMara shades and stuffed them next to the bikini. Oscar led her to the outdoor jacuzzi and pool.

"Go change," Oscar smiled and headed into the men's bathroom. Mariah went into the womens' and changed into her tiny bikini. She checked herself out from every angle. Perky butt, medium sized round chest, very nice cleavage, legs with no extra fat, flat stomach. It was all good. She brushed on some quick waterproof mascara and eyeliner and then headed out.

When she stepped outside, she saw Madden and Nicky there.

"Nicky? Madden? Why are you here?" asked Mariah in an impatient tone.

"Madden asked me here. I didn't know you would be here.'' Nicky replied in an apologetic tone. She blushed. But Mariah just shrugged. Maybe this would be better. Besides, Oscar was already drooling over Mariah and she knew it would be fine.

She gingerly stepped into the jacuzzi, careful not to get her hair wet. If her hair got wet, she would look close to bald. Well, not really. Oscar splashed in besides her. He was wearing Gucci bathing trunks. His shaggy dirt blond hair looked great wet. Nicky got in beside her, and so did Madden. Soon, the four of them were splashing around, having a great time.

The sun had already set, and the only source of light was what came from inside the hotel and the small, elegant lamps hanging on delicate golden chains, dangling from near the bathroom. Mariah sighed and pulled herself out of the jacuzzi. She had managed to keep her hair dry. Oscar followed her out, and put his wet arm around her shoulders. She smiled in a sexy, coy way and let him pull her into a deck chair. It was a pretty big deck chair. Oscar flopped down, and pulled Mariah onto his lap. Mariah could feel every moving muscle of his body under her. Her head leaned against the side of his, her legs crossed sideways next to his, and his arm went around her neck.

"You're light," laughed Oscar, giving her shoulder a poke.

"That's about the nicest thing you can say to any girl. By the way, happy birthday," Mariah replied, leaning into his face. He kissed her then. And while they enjoyed themselves out by the pool, someone was suffering.

Lorri stifled another cough and looked through the air vent opening. She saw a couple of people eating in the French restaurant. She sighed softly. Still no sign of Mariah or Oscar. Maybe Stephanie got it wrong? Lorri decided to head back. She yanked on the string and followed the string round and round.

"Where is she?" asked Kay, leaning against the wall in the small controls room. "It's nearly 10 o'clock."

Stephanie shrugged and folded her arms across her chest. She was too sleepy to answer Kay. Normally, she would have gone to sleep 2 hours ago. Was Lorri lost? Had she gotten discovered? Whatever.

"You know what? I think she's been discovered by someone," said Stephanie. Kay's eyes grew big.

"Really?" asked Kay in shock.

Stephanie nodded. "C'mon, let's get out of here now. We don't want to be caught the culprit! Besides, we have school tomorrow. Let's go."

Kay nodded and watched carefully as Stephanie opened the door. They stepped outside.

"Who's that?" a man's voice asked.

Frightened, Stephanie banged the door shut and huddled back into the corner of the controls room. Kay, however, couldn't help herself. She screamed.

"All right, kids, game's over. Get out." The man yanked the door open and gripped the girls by their arms. "Security's right over there. Start explaining what you were doing."

Stephanie could only stare wide-eyed at Kay. She couldn't believe what was happening. "We weren't doing anything..." she stammered.

The man smirked. "Yeah, right. We'll get you to the police headquarters in minutes. And after we do, you'll never see the end of it."

Lorri could see the controls room underneath her. Now all she needed was a way to get out.

"Stephanie? Kay? Are you guys over there?" Lorri called out timidly. No answer. She decided to jump. It was about 2 meters to the floor. One, two, three, jump! She landed on the cement floor and looked around. Her heart pounded. Where were her friends? She opened the door a crack. No one.

Ditched. Tricked. Used. Lorri sank to the floor in agony. She couldn't believe she had been so dumb as to believe in what Stephanie and Kay had told her. She picked herself up and walked calmly out of the room and out of the Beverly Wilshire to go home.

Mariah rolled over and looked at the clock. 7:00 AM. School would start at 8:30. Oscar lay next to her, still asleep, his arm on her chest. She tossed her hair back and got out of bed. Her clothes from yesterday were still on the sofa in the living room. She got dressed, and combed her hair and did her makeup. At 7:30, she left the suite while Oscar was still asleep, a note on the pillow.

see you at school.

That was all it said. It needn't say any more. She hurried to catch a cab, and then rode to Beverly Hills Middle School.

Nicky was leaning against her locker, talking to some guy with spiky hair when she arrive.

"Hey!" Nicky pushed the spiky dude aside and turned to Mariah. "Check on this. There's a new girl in this school from Michigan." Nicky said the word Michigan the way someone would say bullshit.

Mariah tossed her hair back and checked her makeup. "Lame. Our school is flooded with losers. Everyone here besides the A-Line group is part of the Loser group."

Nicky smiled. "Too true." She opened her locker and stuffed her Armani silver bag in. Mariah rolled her eyes for no reason and crossed the hall to where the spiky dude was standing.

"Hey," said Mariah, smiling in a mocking way.

"OH MY GOSH. MARIAH TALKED TO ME! I'M POPULAR!" He ran through the halls, yelling with laughter.

What the hell?

"Mariah!" A boy's voice rang through the hallway. Oscar, no duh.

"Hey," Mariah said, shaking her hair back.

"Hey baby," Oscar approached Mariah and gave her a kiss on the lips. Mariah blushed and smiled.

Lorri hurried into the school building. She was so nervous. What if she made no friends? Stephanie and Kay certainly were not her friends anymore.

She paused at the water fountain. Just as she bent down to get a drink, she noticed the hottes, cutest, sexiest guy ever. Dirt blond hair, blue eyes, clear skin, wow! Lorri caught herself just as she wantd to gasp out loud. He was so cute! She approached him. She wanted a chance to talk to him, and she decided to ask him where her locker was. It wouldn't make her seem that obvious.

She smoothed out the pink-and-yellow blouse she was wearing and pulled up her white chinos. Her hair was messy so she retied the bun and brushed some stray strands out of her eyes.

"Hi! I'm new here, can you tell me where my locker is? The number is 25-10." Lorri blurted out.

The guy looked behind his shoulder. "Yeah, it's right over here." He tapped on a locker in front of him.

"Thanks." Lorri smiled. "What's your name?"

"Oscar." Then he smiled a smile that lit up her entire world – for a second. A glamorous girl wearing clothes that cost thousands came up behind him, and he leaned over and gave the girl a kiss. On the lips. The girl smiled and they walked off together, leaving Lorri behind them to pick up the broken pieces of her heart.

It was 8:30. Mariah rushed out of the bathroom where she had been changing her clothes and entered her Homeroom. Nicky had reserved a spot for her next to her and Lindsee. As the class started and the teacher started blabbing about some crazy shit over the weekend, Mariah took the oppurtunity to flip open her new Siemens Escada cellphone. Message from Oscar! Mariah grinned and opened it.

i love you. im sorry.

Mariah furrowed her brow just as the alarm in the classroom started to ring.

"Emergency, children, don't panic!" Mr. Rickster shouted over the noise of the screeching alarm and noisy kids.

Mariah glanced in panic at Lindsee and Celine and Nicky. Horror and confusion were written on their faces. Did this have something to do with... with Oscar's message? Suddenly, 3 armed policemen charged into the room.

"Freeze!" they exlaimed, pointing their firearms up. A few kids screamed, and Celine fell out of her chair onto her D&G pumps.

"Is their a Oscar Velato in here?" the policemen asked.

Mariah gasped and gripped Lindsee, who was digging her nails into her arm.

"No, he's next door." Mr. Rickster answered.

The policemen left the room and Mariah held her breath. Then she heard Oscar shout. She couldn't stand it so she ran out of the room, nearly ripping her black Sevens skinny jeans. Her red-hot strappy Choo pumps pounded on the tile floor. Lindsee jumped up and followed her. So did Nicky.

Oscar was right outside of the room, a cop holding each of his shoulders. His eyes were focused on the bottoms of his black cargo pants. Mariah gasped and put a hand over her mouth. Next to her, Lindsee's eyes windened and Nicky stared with genuine amazement and fright.

The 3 policemen started leading Oscar down the hall, to where a cop car waited outside the main entrance.

"No!" Mariah screamed.

Lindsee exlaimed, "Wait! Where are you taking him?"

One of the cops turned around. "Juvenile court. He's got his criminal record. Mostly from that pop of his." Then he turned around and shoved Oscar towards the entrance of the school.

But Oscar turned around. "Mariah, I'm sorry. I love you." He said those words in a genuinely apologetic tone. Then he stepped out of the school and into the gray day. The gray day that wiped away his innocence and his youth. Mariah ran after him, her best friends at her side.

"Oscar! Don't go!" Mariah screamed. She couldn't take any of this in. It was like a dream. The policement pushed him into the car.

"Mariah!" Oscar screamed as the door of the car slammed. The car drove off. Tears ran out of her eyes and dripped the floor. She glanced at Nicky. She was crying too. Lindsee reached over and gave her a hug. The three of them stood there, cold and shocked and crying.

Mariah couldn't stand it anymore. She broke free from Lindsee and Nicky and ran. She ran out of the school and through the gates. It had started the rain. Mariah couldn't take the pain. She kicked off her heels and darted down the street. Lindsee and Nicky ran after her, shouting for her to stop. She didn't.

Mariah ran all the way back home. She thundered up the stairs, into her suite, and into her bathroom. She locked the door and leaned against the wall, tears pouring out of hey eyes. Why her? Why her? Out of all the people in the world, why her? She sobbed and hugged Peanut, Anza's kitty. She felt so alone.

Oscar had always loved Mariah, ever since he started attending Beverly Hills Middle School in 4th grade. Mariah had secretly liked him, too, but she forced herself to remain only friends with him. She was scared. She was scared of getting hurt by him. She didn't want to end up broken-hearted like many of her friends.

But when she realized the stability of Oscar and his love, she realized that she could get together with him– and she would be able to control their relationship.

Nothing could have prepared her for this, though. Seriously. She saw her boyfriend get dragged out of his classroom and into a police car with her own eyes. It was just too much.

Mariah leaned out of her bathroom window and into the gray clouds. "I thought I could love you," she whispered into the stillness of the world. "I thought I could."

Two weeks later, Mariah flipped open her Escada phone and called Lorri. She couldn't believe that she, the school's highest A-liner, was calling this freak. But seriously, what else could she do? Ask George Bush to free all the juvenile court residents? She was calling Lorri to confirm her about the plan. Lorri was needed because she knew where the juvenile camp was.

"Hello? Lorri speaking," Lorri said when she answered the phone.

"It's Mariah. Are you ready?" she asked promptly.

"I think so," she replied uncertainly.

"Well, you'd better not gimme any shit cause it's not going to work. Tell me the truth. If you're going to freak out then back out now." Mariah tossed her hair back and paced around her balcony.

"I'm ready. Truly." Lorri bit her nails.

Mariah snapped her phone shut. Immediately, it ran again. Nicky.

"Yeah?" Mariah asked matter-of-factly.

"Hey. I need to know the time you're picking me and Lorri up at," Nicky requested.

"Who said I was picking you guys up? We're going to meet at the Beverly Center," Mariah said with disgust.

"Oh, right. Okay. I'll see you later."

Mariah sighed and leaned against the marble railing. Would this actually work? It was risky... very risky. If she was caught, that would be the end to her. But, well, for Oscar, she could so ANYTHING.

It was 9:30 pm. She picked up her L.A.M.B tiger shoulder bag and swung it over her shoulder and slipped on her Chanel lepoard skin pumps. Her brown leather Prada oversized tote was sitting by the door. Mariah had previously packed it with 3 cans of Dr. Pepper, 2 bottles of Fiji water, a pack of assorted sushi, 2 boxes of shrimp cocktail, and a pack of beef jerky. She groaned and tossed the heavy bag onto her shoulder and left the Kindley mansion, wondering whether she would ever return.

Mariah hadn't walked further then half a mile in her life, since cars and chauffeurs had been invented before she could even crawl. But now, she was put to a test. 6 blocks.

Finally, Mariah arrived at the Beverly Center. Her feet were sore and her legs were aching. Lorri was sitting on a bench and Nicky was standing around her, kicking her purple pumps around.

"Hey!" Nicky gave Mariah a small wave as she approached them.

Lorri bit her lip and stood up, straigtening her dark blue chinos and yellow shirt.

Come on, shouldn't we go now?" Lorri asked, tugging at her shirt.

Marah nodded. "We have to 'borrow' one of those golf carts," she said, pointing at the row of white golf carts lined up by the grass. They were white with lockable windows and doors, with three rows of faux leather seats. Nicky nodded and they walked over to the line.

"How do you work these things?" asked Lorri.

"Insert the money and drive the cart away," replied Nicky, rolling her eyes.

"Okay." Mariah pulled out some $20 bills and stuffed three into the slot. A key dropped out from under the slot, and Mariah picked it up and started up one of the carts.

"I'll drive for an hour, then you can go." Mariah said to Nicky, tossing her Prada tote into the middle row. After slipping into the drivers' seat. Nicky slid into the seat next to her, closing the plastic door after her. Lorri jumped in next to Mariah's bag, nearly causing the cart to tip over.

"Lorri, watch it, you freak!" Mariah murmured, tossing her hair back and exchanging a glance with Nicky.

The golf cart started up and Mariah fumbled with the lights. Then they pulled out from the Beverly Center and drove down a small, narrow road and into the countryside.

"Do you actually had any idea where the hell we are?" asked Mariah, wiping a sweat-drenched palm on her black skinny Sevens. "Do I make a right turn here or a left?"

Nicky pulled out her silver slide cellphone and turned on the GPS.

"We're on 7th. Make a right turn, and then go straight for a while. We're arriving in the 'peopleless' area."

Mariah sighed and parked the car. "Nicky, you drive. I'm done for now." She swapped places with Nicky, and peered back at Lorri, who was staring at the flat, dark land around them. It was very dark, and the golf cart didn't have the best headlights. No better then a couple of flashlights.

"Hey, can we roll up the windows? I'm cold," Lorri said, shivering and wrapping her knitted white scarf around her shoulders.

"Uh-huh." Mariah rolled up her window and Nicky and Lorri did the same. It was quite cold. An icy breeze was blowing across the flat landscape, rocking the golf cart ever so slightly. Lorri sighed and leaned against the door of the cart, making sure it was securely locked. She wished she was back in Michigan, sitting on the carpet by the fireplace, reading. She didn't want to be here, with two rich bitches, driving an unsteady golf cart in the middle of nowhere at midnight. If it weren't for Oscar, she wouldn't be doing this.

"Should we stop? We're shaking really badly," Nicky asked Mariah, a scared look on her face.

"I think we should," Lorri suggested as her stomache did a cartwheel.

"Yeah, I guess," replied Mariah, as she tried to turn on the small light inside the cart. It flickered on. It lit up the whole cart. She breathed out a sigh of confusion mixed with boredom and leaned back into the fake leather seat.

"We're going to have to drive about 1200 miles to go," Nicky said, sighing.

"Well, this cart goes at around 30 miles per hour. It's going to take us around 40 hours to get to the juvenile camp area," Lorri calculated.

"Yeah, ehh, did you guys bring food?" asked Mariah, tossing her hair back.

"I brought equipment to get into the camp," Nicky answered.

"Crackers," Lorri said, looking at her hands.

"Ha, I guess it's just me and me," Mariah murmured, shifting her legs under her.

Lorri opened her pink bag and took out a book she had gotten from the library about juvenile camps. Mariah and Nicky sat in silence, staring at the blowng wind outside of the cart. Lorri flipped through the pages until she felt drowsy.

"Will you guys mind if I go to sleep now?" asked Lorri, putting her book back into the bag.

"Go ahead," Mariah replied, and Nicky gave her a tiny smile.

Lorri shivered again. The temperature was dropping. She pulled on a sweatshirt over her shirt and folded up her scarf for a pillow. Then she stretched out on the seat and placed her bag on the floor. Within moments, she had fallen asleep.

"You wantta take a nap too?" asked Nicky.

Mariah shook her head, although she felt a bit sleepy too. But before she knew it, she had fallen asleep too, leaving Nicky by herself to guard the cart.

When Mariah woke up, Nicky was asleep in the 3rd row but Lorri was awake. It was 3:30 am.

"When did you get up?" murmured Mariah, turning around to face Lorri.

"About three. Nicky fell asleep about 10 minutes ago."

Mariah nodded and rubbed her eyes gently. Then she pulled out her Chanel compact and re-applied some makeup.

"Lorri, gimme my Prada," Mariah requested.

Lorri reached over and handed her the bag. Mariah fished through it and pulled out a Dr. Pepper. She handed Lorri a bottle of Fiji water.

"Thanks," Lorri said gratefully. She gulped down half the bottle in a second. Mariah rolled her eyes and sipped her Dr. Pepper.

"I think the wind has stopped. Should we start moving again now? asked Lorri, capping the bottle of water.

"Yeah. Huh." Mariah moved over to the drivers seat and turned on the ignition. She slipped her soda into the cupholder and turned on the headlights.

"Wow, Nicky that dumbass didn't even think of turning the headlights on to high," murmured Mariah sarcastically. She stepped onto the gas and headed forward. They weren't really on a paved road anymore. it was just flat dirt, but Nicky's GPS led the way.

The stars twinkled above the girls as they drove around in the middle of nowhere. Lorri brushed her poo-colored hair thourougly with her fingers to pass time. Mariah took occasional sips of Dr. Pepper to keep her awake. And when Nicky finally woke up, she moved back to the front of the cart to talk to Mariah.

"Sorry for falling asleep," Nicky said as she tied a silk Louis Vuitton scarf around her neck.

"Yeah." Mariah nodded and brushed her hair out of her face and continued down the road that seemed to never end.

"So this is the place?" Nicky leaned forward and stared at the small cabins and track in front of her. A few dirty white tents, a big wood lodge, and a running track. That was all.

Mariah felt a lump in her throat. She was stiff from sitting in the tiny golf cart for two days.

"Yeah. Lets get out." Mariah pulled the keys out of the head and tossed them into her purse.

"Aren't you guys surprised that there are no electrical fences, no barbed wires?" asked Lorri, rolling out her scarf. "Well, of course, it is nighttime, so they might be hard to see."

Mariah didn't answer. She squinted through the glass window and sighed. "We aren't getting that far by just looking. We have to get off." With that, she opened the door of the golf cart and stepped out. It wasn't very cold, but it was very dark, and there were no lights of any sort.

Nicky stepped out behind Mariah, her pumps digging into the dirt. Lorri climbed out last.

"So, let's go check out the whole camp first," decided Mariah. Nicky nodded and they made their way across the dirt. There were 6 cabins in all, surrounded by the running track.

Lorri kicked the small pebbles on the track and made a huge racket.

"Guess what, Lorri. If you want us to be living shit, go ahead and lure the counselors out," Nicky muttered. Lorri lowered her head in embarassment.

"I heard something.. over there!" Mariah half-whispered-half-screamed. They ducked behind a wooden post.

"Shh.. they're going to catch us!" someone whispered. It wasn't Mariah or Lorri or Nicky. But it was the voice of a girl their age.

"Baby, don't sweat it," murmured another voice. Oscar!

"Did you guys hear that?!" Nicky exclaimed, ramming into Mariah. "That was Oscar!"

Mariah's head was spinning. Oscar with another girl? No way! Mariah couldn't stand it. She jumped up and ran towards the voices. They were coming from behind the lodge. She felt Nicky come up behind her. Lorri remained behind the post, shivering with fear.

Mariah gathered up her courage and stepped behind the lodge. As soon as she did, she wished she hadn't. Oscar was there. Making out with another girl. A girl with curly brown hair and mountain-range curves, wearing a tank top and a miniskirt. Oscar's arms were around her and her hands were up his shirt.

"Oscar.." Mariah whispered. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Oscar looked up. As soon as he did, he pushed the girl away from him and gasped.

"Mariah? What are you doing here?" Oscar's voice trembled as he wiped his mouth.

"I WAS coming to rescue you. But what's this?" Mariah demanded. She arched an eyebrow at the girl.

"Um.. it's nothing.." Oscar lied, looking at the girl. "This is my friend, Ashley."

Ashley tossed her huge mass of hair and looked smugly at Oscar. "And this is my boyfriend, Oscar."

Mariah played it cool. She cocked her head, rolled her eyes (as if she didn't really give a shit) and pursed her lips.

"You really messed with the wrong girl, Oscar. I'm going to make your life hell. Hey, are you forgetting who I am?" Mariah smiled thinly.

"No! Mariah, stop it. Don't." Oscar pleaded.

"Ehh, fat chance, Love. Gotta go." Mariah smiled. "Muah." She blew a fake kiss and rolled her eyes and joined Nicky where they found Lorri and headed back to the golf cart. She could hear Oscar and Ashley yelling at each other after they pulled out of the camp area. Ha. For all she cared, Oscar could go fuck that bitch Ashley and she wouldn't care. But she wasn't the type of girl to let a guy treat her like shit and not do anything about it. She would show Oscar that she wasn't the type of girl he wanted to mess with.


End file.
